Graduating Class Presents 2013 Teaching Awards

Recipients of the 2013 teaching awards presented by the graduating class.

Philadelphia – Penn Dental Medicine faculty members were honored for excellence in teaching at the School’s Senior Farewell, held May 7 at The Bellevue in Center City Philadelphia. Each academic year, the graduating class recognizes members of the faculty with teaching awards, presented at this annual event that celebrates the passage of students to professional dentistry. The event is sponsored by the Penn Dental Medicine Alumni Society. The awards and recipients included the following:

The Senior Outstanding Teaching Award – presented to a faculty member who has gone beyond the scope of his/her responsibilities to significantly impact the class’s education at Penn Dental Medicine. This year, the Senior Outstanding Teaching Award was presented to Dr. Arthur Kuperstein, Assistant Professor of Oral Medicine and Course and Clinic Director of the Oral Diagnosis and Emergency Care Clinics. This is the sixth time that Dr. Kuperstein has been recognized with this award. He has been part of Penn Dental Medicine since 2002, and in addition to his clinical teaching responsibilities for all four years of the DMD curriculum, he also lectures within the postdoctoral programs, the program for advanced standing students, and other clinical and basic sciences courses. Dr. Kuperstein is also a past recipient of the Joseph L.T. Appleton Award.

The Joseph L. T. Appleton Award – presented to a part-time faculty member for excellence in clinical teaching. This year’ recipient is Dr. Scott Odell (D’82), Clinical Assistant Professor of Oral Medicine. A member of the School’s faculty since 2007, Dr. Odell teaches diagnostic radiology and also teaches in the Emergency Care Clinic. This is the fifth year in a row he received the Appleton Award, named in honor of Dr. Joseph Appleton, a 1914 alumnus of Penn Dental Medicine, who served as dean of the School from 1941 to 1951. The award was founded in 1979 by Dr. Abram Cohen, a member of the Class of 1923 and father of Dean Emeritus D. Walter Cohen, Class of 1950.

The Basic Science Award – presented for excellence in teaching within the basic sciences. This year’s recipient is Dr. Elliot Hersh, Professor of Oral Surgery and Pharmacology, and marked the twentieth time he was presented with this award. A highly respected researcher in local anesthesia and the management of acute pain, Dr. Hersh has been part of the Penn Dental Medicine faculty since 1988. He currently serves as Course Director for the second-year Pharmacology course and also lectures in the first-year Physiology course, second-year Pain Control course, third-year Geriatrics Course, and directs the fourth-year Clinical Therapeutics and Board Review Course. Dr. Hersh is also a past recipient of the University of Pennsylvania’s Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching and of the IADR Distinguished Scientist Award in Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Toxicology. He previously served as a University IRB Chair for 16 years, and presently is co-principal investigator on the Penn Center of Excellence in Pain Education with Dr. John Farrar from Penn Medicine and Dr. Rosemary Polomano from Penn Nursing.

The Earle Bank Hoyt Award – presented for excellence in teaching to a Penn Dental Medicine graduate who is a full-time junior faculty member. The award was established by a grateful patient in honor of Dr. Hoyt, a distinguished clinician and educator and member of the Class of 1918. This year’s recipient is Dr. Cyelee Kulkarni (D’07), Clinical Instructor, Division of Pediatric Dentistry. Dr. Kulkarni joined the faculty in 2011 after completing a residency in Pediatric Dentistry at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY. She is Course Director of the Pediatric Dentistry Clinic for the third-year and fourth-year DMD students.

The Robert E. DeRevere Award – presented for excellence in preclinical teaching by a part-time faculty member. The award is named in honor of Dr. DeRevere, a member of the Penn Dental Medicine Class of 1945, who served on the School’s faculty. This year’s recipient is Dr. Joy Bockstein Abt (D’94), Clinical Assistant Professor of Restorative Dentistry and Director of Fixed Prosthodontics. From 2001 to 2004, Dr. Abt was Assistant Professor of Restorative Dentistry and Director of Operative Dentistry. She returned to the faculty in 2007 as Clinical Assistant Professor and was appointed Director of Fixed Prosthodontics in 2008. In addition to fixed prosthodontics, Dr. Abt also teaches in the first-year operative dentistry course, second-year complete dentures and removable partial dentures courses, and the third- and fourth-year restorative dentistry clinic. Dr. Abt is a member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon and in 2012 was the recipient of Penn Dental Medicine’s Award for Outstanding Service to Students.

View photos from the Senior Farewell event on the School’s Facebook page.